What my musings are all about...

Blogging might well be the 21st century's form of journaling. As a writing teacher, I have always advised my students to keep a daily journal as a way of organizing their thoughts for future writing projects, a discipline I have unfortunately never consistently practiced myself. By blogging, I might finally be able to follow my own good advice.

The difference between journaling and blogging is that the blogger opens his or her writing to the public, something journal- writers are usually reluctant to do. I am not so reticent.

The trick for me will be to avoid cluttering the internet with more blather, something none of us need more of. If I stick to subjects I know: sports and literature, I believe I can avoid that pitfall. I can't promise that I'll not stray from time to time to comment on ancillary subjects, but I will make every attempt to be interesting and perhaps even insightful.

Thursday, December 31, 2015

A Few Last Posts Before the New Year

Before starting the New Year with a clean slate, let me get a few sports gripes out of the way.

Eliminating kickoff run-backs in the NFL did away with one of the "funest" parts of the game.

Why can't soccer figure out something better than the offside rule so we Americans can indulge
our appetite for more scoring. Five or six points doesn't sound off the wall to me.

All sports on TV. You got to stop hard booze advertising. If not, at least don't make drinking
the hard stuff straight, over the rocks look like it's the fun thing to do. Our youth are watching.
This is shameful.

When will we stop babying our athletes? Is winning so important, the jocks can be ass-h---es or
worse, and management does nothing.

How about making it clear to our pros that getting in fights, and hanging out in strip clubs is
stupid. Isn't Johnny Manziel, Johnny Dumb-Ass or what? Are you listening Cleanthony Early. By
the way, taking your girlfriend to a strip club - real classy, remind me when I advice my grandson
where to take his date. As for you, Derrick Williams, bringing two ladies of the night back to your
apartment for tea and crumpets is an invitation to be robbed.

Lets stop fans voting for All Stars. I don't care how great Kobe is, this game is for this season's
All Stars. Carmelo the ball stopper is not worth a vote either. Dwight Howard,, and All Star? All he does is smile and loose. Also, in the NBA, how about something inventive to make the All Star game more than a bunch of guys playing zero defense and casting up shots from Peoria. Here's a thought: play the game by quarters. If the teams are tied two quarters a piece, have a three on three half court win by two game to settle winners.

I'm so tired of DeMarcus Cousins antics, frown, groans, astonished looks, slow footed
lumbering down the court that I can barely watch a King's game any more.

I hope I'm not the only one, but I believe the 49ers treatment of Colin Kepernick was boorish, and
it is my deepest wish that Balke trades him and the young man comes back and kicks the red and
in the teeth.

Why isn't San Jose up in arms over the the 49ers still calling themselves the San Francisco
49ers? Whose tax dollars are we talking about?

If the Raiders leave Oakland, it will be another sign that the owners don't give a crap about
loyal fans. That it's all about the "bottom line."

Let's be absolutely clear about building new arenas, so far not one that's been built has come
anywhere near improving the community whose tax dollars were used to cover costs. They
are simply a bad use of a city's financial resources. Better to spend tax dollars on schools and police
departments. Hurrah for the Warrior owners who're building the new arena on their own dime.

Darla Moore and Condoleeza Rice, give me a break. Are we supposed to get all teary-eyed
and grateful to the Augusta National Golf Club that they allowed two women to join? Can't
wait for the next pair so honored. They won't be Democrats. And it won't be happening soon.

Cage fighting. A sport? I guess, but should our children, already exposed to enough violence, be
watching it? No way!

Don't B.S. people, NBA, NFL, you know very well that Fantasy Basketball, Football is
gambling. Let's get the kids started gambling early, shall we?

I'm thoroughly disgusted with the NBA league office for creating a rule that coaches can't
call for fouls on their opponents' worst free throw shooters in the last 2 minutes of a game.
The message this is sending to our youth is that fan interest (read bottom line thinking) is more important than a player buckling down and learning to shoot free-throws. It's disgusting that a professional basketball player can't shoot at least 70 % from the line. Disgusting. Disgusting.
And all fans should be made aware that these so-called pros are simply too lazy to care.

After all this ranting I'm not much in the mood for a poem, but here's one small one I wrote about another of my gripes: NBA dance teams. Who choreographs these poor girls? Have they no imagination?

Thomas Meschery, a son of Russian immigrants, he became the first international player to play in an NBA All-Star Game in 1963.

An All-American success story. Born in China in 1938, he came to the U.S. with his parents after WW II. An All-American at Lowell High School, San Francisco, and St. Mary's College, Moraga, California. He was the youngest player to named a first team AAU All-American. NBA Star for ten seasons. Noted as one of the toughest players in the NBA. His jersey number has been retired by both St. Mary's and Golden State Warriors. Inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Tom has published two books of poetry, 'Over the Rim' and 'Nothing You Lose Can Be Replaced' and a fourth-coming book of verse, 'Some Men'. He was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2000.